Bangladesh thrash Zimbabwe by six wickets

After Bangladesh bundled out Zimbabwe for 191, they made relatively light work of the chase, finishing off the match with six wickets and 10.2 overs to spare. Zimbabwe never really looked in the game, and their bowlers were unable to rebuff the Bangladeshi batsmen effectively enough. With this win in Dhaka, Bangladesh draws level 1-1 in the 5-match series.

Bangladesh's innings got off to the fairly dramatic start. Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal hit Proper Utseya for a six in the 3rd over, making his intentions quite clear. But then Kayes picked up the aggressive vibe, smacking Utseya for two boundaries in the 5th over.

However, Kayes had played one shot too many when Chris Mpfou got him caught behind in the next over. He was out for 10 and Bangladesh were in some trouble at 26/1. Later in the same over, Mpofu would have got his second wicket if Chigumbura hadn't dropped a sitter at mid-off from Junaid Siddique's bat.

That let-off was all the luck Bangladesh needed to worm back into the match. In the 10th over, Iqbal and Siddique each took a four off Keegan Meth, taking the score past 50. However, three overs later, there was high drama. Iqbal went after Price, carting him for a huge six over wide long-on, but miscued the next shot and holed out to Mpofu at long off. Zimbabwe were back in the game at 75/2 in 14 overs. But the new batsman Raqibul Hasan and Siddique did an admirable job rebuilding.

In the 18th oover, Hasan got Utseya away for a four and three balls later, Siddique took him for a huge six over the midwicket fence. The duo then took Bangladesh past 100 courtesy a four to wide long off off Hasan's bat. At 119/2 at the half-way stage, Bangladesh looked well on course to a victory.

In the 34th over, Ray Price accounted for the wicket of Siddique via a stumping. The batsmen who had scored 53 and had done his job though, steadying the Bangladeshi innings and taking it to within sight of victory. Bangladesh were 146/3 at that stage, but from the way Raqibul Hasan was batting, it seemed he wanted to finish off the match fast. In the 36th over, he went after Price, hitting him for three fours.

In the next over, he lofted Utseya for a huge six to bring up his fifty in style. Then he got stuck into Meth, smacking him for two consecutive boundaries. But his fun came to an end in the next over when he was stumped for 65 off Keith Dabengwa in the 39th over. But with the score at 187/4, there were no worries for Bangladesh and in the next over, Mushfiqur Rahim hit the winning boundary.